Get your fly swats out (or your sleepy cheeks) because this episode researchers Kate Tepper and Gavin Volpato join Jesse to chat about our project to release sterilised male mosquitoes to drown-out an invasive mozzie species responsible for dengue fever and Zika. We also do a slapdash digest through the last fortnight’s science news, and then speak with Dr Cameron Stewart about the discovery of a vital immunity gene and the parlous quest to have the public name it. Get your single-celled, Wolbachia jokes ready because you’re about to have a ball.

Amendments:

Sorry for the audio quality in the ‘science news digest’ segment—it was recorded before we resolved our audio issues.

Amendment: Researchers found prehistoric tools in China, not human remains, which suggest an exodus from Africa up to 2 million years ago—the oldest evidence of humans outside Africa.

CSIRO news

Why we released millions of mozzies in northern Queensland

“…it was all part of an effort to trial whether specialised technology could reduce populations of the Aedes aegypti, an invasive mosquito capable of spreading diseases like dengue, Zika and chikungunya – it’s one of the world’s most dangerous pests. While final results are still being analysed, we’re chuffed to tell you the initial results show the population of the Aedes aegypti mosquito dropped by more than 80 per cent in just over three months,” from our blog.

Interview: Dr Cameron Steward on C6, the nameless gene

“Dr. Stewart is Research Scientist within the Mitigating Invasive Species and Diseases Program of CSIRO Health & Biosecurity, and is based at the CSIRO Australian Animal Health Laboratory (AAHL).” This episode he joins Interronauts to discuss his research with high containment microbes, and his team’s discovery of C6 an immunity gene with no name. Read the blog.

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